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Pirates attack Malaysian oil tanker in South China Sea

Pirates attacked a Malaysian oil tanker in the Malacca Straits and siphoned off its load, the Malaysian navy and officials said on Wednesday, the latest in a series of hijackings raising tension in Southeast Asia’s busy sea lanes.

The attackers stole 2,500 metric tonnes of oil and damaged the navigation equipment of the MT Oriental Glory late on Tuesday.

The ship was headed from Singapore to a port in the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah and all 15 crew were safe, an official with the Piracy Reporting Centre told Reuters.

Authorities recovered the ship on Wednesday afternoon.

It was the latest in a spate of petro-piracy attacks along the Malacca Straits and in the South China Sea with at least seven recorded since April.

None of the attackers has been caught. (Reporting By Trinna Leong and Al-Zaquan Amer Hamzah; Editing by Nick Macfie)